News update

Mosley even quotes an interview given by di Montezemolo’s own colleague, Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne, six months ago in which he said: “It may be painful. It may be ugly. But if we want to do the right thing for this industry let’s do it now… Maybe I am completely wrong, but today my gut instinct is to be truly Draconian.”

With McLaren already humbled, and with a three-race suspended sentence hanging over them as a result of their lying to race stewards this season, the FIA have taken on Ferrari as they attempt to reclaim control of the teams.

Montezemolo’s point is that under the Concorde Agreement the FIA “cannot pass or amend any regulation without it being approved by the F1 commission.”

When Ferrari did its secret deal and signed up to 2012, it demanded and was granted “all rights under the previous Concorde Agreement will continue to apply until 31 December 2010, exactly as if the Agreement itself remained in place.”

Bernie Ecclestone has said that he will cut the payments being made to the Formula 1 teams, in order to help the Grand Prix circuits survive.

At the moment there are three players in the F1 political game: the Formula One group, the F1 teams and the FIA. The alliance between Formula One and the FIA means that the teams have traditionally been in a weak position and it has not helped that they have often been divided. There is a fourth group that should have a voice, but the race promoters have always been hopelessly divided and have followed Ecclestone slavishly for fear of losing their events. In most sports it is the owner of the venue who has ultimate control over the broadcasting activities. They may license people to do that on his behalf. Thus to avoid troubles Bernie Ecclestone might start to buy poverty-stricken venues. However, if the promoters had a strong leader and could club together to establish their own organisation, they would become a political force in the sport. It would be a political challenge to get so many competing bodies to work together but the teams have achieved that (for the moment) and the promoters could as well. If they were then to ally with the F1 teams the power of Ecclestone and the FIA would be seriously undermined. Ecclestone seems to be confident that this will not happen and that the teams will not walk away and start their own championship. This belief is presumably based on the fact that starting a new series in a complex business and would be too much hassle and too much cost for those involved, most of whom have more important things to worry about, either running a team or trying to sell cars in a credit-less world.

The FIA would have difficulty putting together a credible Formula 1 World Championship without the likes of Ferrari and McLaren, particularly if the traditional circuits of Monaco, Spa, Silverstone and so on also decided to jump ship. The drivers would follow the money, as they always do. The media, the fans and the sponsors would go to whichever series had the most credibility – or they would walk away. The credibility would be based on the entry and the circuits involved. It would be a similar situation that that which British soccer went through in 1991 when the top teams broke away from the Football League to establish their own Premier League, which the Football Association then supported.

The FIA would have difficulty putting together a credible Formula 1 World Championship without the likes of Ferrari and McLaren, particularly if the traditional circuits of Monaco, Spa, Silverstone and so on also decided to jump ship. The drivers would follow the money, as they always do. The media, the fans and the sponsors would go to whichever series had the most credibility – or they would walk away. The credibility would be based on the entry and the circuits involved. It would be a similar situation that that which British soccer went through in 1991 when the top teams broke away from the Football League to establish their own Premier League, which the Football Association then supported.

“From 2010, all teams will have the option to compete with cars built and operated within a stringent cost cap.
The cost cap for 2010 will be £40m per annum*. This figure will cover all team expenditure except:

– Marketing and hospitality;
– Remuneration for test or race drivers, including any young driver programmes;
– Fines or penalties imposed by the FIA;
– Engine costs (for 2010 only);
– Any expenditure which the team can demonstrate has no influence on its performance in the Championship
– Dividends (including any tax thereon) paid from profits relating to participation in the Championship.”